Tampa Am 2004 Sunday Finals

Posted on on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 by Rob

Tampa Am 2004 Sunday, January 25, 2004
Street Semi-Finals and Finals

Story and Photos by Rob Meronek

When Sierra Fellers started his last run in the Finals with a kickflip back lip and then a kickflip up the step-up and over the flat bar, I'm sure he knew he had the opportunity to put together a run that would win it. He took full advantage and stayed on for the rest of the time and threw in even more difficult tricks like a nollie crook on the step-up hubba, after which he finished his run with a few flat ground tricks. The entire building knew that was the winning run. People were running down from the ramps and piling up on him like Rocky Balboa or something. I don't think I've ever seen the crowd react that big. What a crazy ending - the last guy in the last run of the Finals takes it. Up until that run, I was sure that Torey Pudwill was in first after two amazing runs he had in the Finals. When the results finally came through, Sierra was a full ten points ahead of Torey. Ten points is usually what the spread is between 1st and 10th place - amazing.

If any of you know and/or have worked with Mike Sinclair, he's captain critical. I guess most of us in skateboarding are, though. He's given two people a perfect score of 100 for a run in his years and years of judging Tampa, Damn Am, and other skate events. Bob Burnquist is one, and now Sierra Fellers is the other. Sierra's only 17 and up until this weekend was just on flow for Circa and Mystery. You think they're going to step it up with him?

Sierra won Shorty's Best Trick also. Other people who killed it in Best Trick included Branen Fitzgerald, who made a 360 flip 5-0 on the flat bar. He was later attempting it to nosegrind. Danny Hamard did a nollie heel flip crook to back lip on the flat bar, but might have gotten less violation from the trick police if he kept the back lip out of there. "Keep the crook to back lips to a minimum," as Tim O'Connor says on the mic. The trick police classify that violation right up there with nose stalls to tail stall on a quarter and various other illegal maneuvers on a skateboard. Andrew Cannon 360 flipped up the step-up to lipslide on the flat bar. Danny Cerezini threw in a switch back lip on the step-up rail after just a few tries. I didn't see him do that all weekend. I missed it, but Chris Troy did a big spin front blunt on the bank to flat bar - nice.

Well it's time for me to get back to normal work now. The next big am event is in early June - the Damn Am at Minneapolis, Minnesota. Join the mailing list at www.DamnAm.com and you won't be the last to know.

Rob